Posted on February 8, 2024 by Freya van Dien

On Saturday morning April 27^th2024, at the source of the Dão river at an 740m altitude, on the edge of the village of Barranha (Aguiar da Beira) a small group of hikers will start to descend down the Dão river. They will walk for 6 days, pass through 8 concelhos, sleep in local alojamentos, cross the river numerous times and end at 120m altitude in Santa Comba Dão where the Dão meets the Mondego at the barragem de Aguieira. The hiking experience is called the Caminho do Dão and can be done in one go or two 3 day tracks.

The Caminho do Dão was founded in 2019 by two hikers who successfully explored a trail through the river valley. Since then the route is a guided experience as it remains unmarked. To date 20 people from the region and beyond have walked the Caminho and deepened their appreciation for the river, from its small beginnings to its wide end. They have seen the changes in the landscape and felt the different micro climates as the river descends the 600m in altitude. They shared with the locals along the way and tasted the food this region has to offer.
For those who want to immerse themselves in the region named after the Dão river this multiple day experience on foot might well be the best way to do it.

The Caminho do Dão is offered at a reduced rate to people that live in the Dão region or have a strong connection to it. The goal of this offer is to make it as easy as possible for the regional population to join and experience the intimate communion with ‘their’ landscape and river which is the namesake of the region. Knowing is loving and, in the eyes of the founder of the trail Freya van Dien, the Dão river and region, as so many in the interior of Portugal, would benefit from more appreciation by locals and foreigners alike.

Starting a non profit: Ruralis

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Freya van Dien

The experience of living in the rural context during the last 10 years has raised many questions about what a regenerative way of life here can entail. ‘The rural’ comes, just as ‘the urban’, with its own sustainability/regenerative challenges and raises its own questions. At Moinhos do Dão we have done a lot of work 'for the greater good' such as river cleanings with the Cuidadão initiative and more recently the ecosystem restoration work with the Micro Reserve project. These are examples of regenerative work in the rural context. In relation to these observation and activities we have identified the need for a non profit structure already many years ago. During the first year of the pandemic there finally was time to make it happen.
Together with friends and colleagues, Freya founded Ruralis association for rural regenerative development. With this association we hope to contribute to the debate around what constitutes regenerative development in the rural context and organize projects that support that development.

Newsletter Winter 2022

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Freya van Dien

Tree Fund Success!

Posted on November 10, 2021 by Freya van Dien

Dear Friends of the MdD,
We want to inform you that our "mini" Tree Fund Campaign has been a great success! We have reached our goal, and actually more (!!!), by receiving some donations outside of the GoFundMe system. We wish to thank you, all those that donated, and all those that shared our message—YOU made it happen! And now, we are ordering the trees, and while waiting, preparing even more areas for a planting blitz before the end of November (which should be the perfect time to get those saplings in the ground, ready for winter, ready to grow those roots, and "take hold" by next years summer hotness).
Again, muito obrigado, and we hope you'll keep an eye on our Micro Reserve Project in the future...you don't want to miss out on seeing those trees grow up!!

- Freya, Steve, Lea, Sophia, Nicole.

Nature Connection & Regenerative Culture: A Participatory Presentation from Joshua Glass

Posted on September 24, 2021 by Freya van Dien

A moment of 'working out loud' where the artist in residence, Joshua Glass, will present his in-progress artistic research on the intersection of nature connection and regenerative culture.

After 8 days of exploration, Joshua will share insights and drawings on the topic. He will invite us for an experience of nature connection and inter-personal inquiry in the forest of Moinhos do Dão Eco Quinta.

Join us for a deep dive into curiosity, conversation, nature connection, and of course, tea and cake J

Essential information:

Location of the presentation: Moinhos do Dão Eco Quinta. The quinta is accessible by car from the village Vila Garcia (directions here) You can also choose to park your car by the nearby Monastery and enjoy the 20 min walk down into the Dão valley.
Date and time: Sunday September 25, 16:00 till 18:00
Bring clothes for rainand footwearfor a short forest walk. The outdoor part of the presentation will occur rain or shine.

About the artist
The work of Joshua Glass elaborates on the intersection of performance art + social experimentation + nature connection. He designs his offerings to be embodied so we can practice:

exchanging with non-humans
reviewing the boundaries of self and other
coexisting in community

Recently, Joshua has produced participatory performances, community-building events, artistic installations, workshops, and a non-profit organization called The Treehouse Maastricht. The Treehouse was co-founded in 2018 in the Netherlands as a public coffeehouse for developing emotional integrity and silliness in the context of deep community. With The Treehouse, Joshua researched and implemented dynamic governance, microsolidarity (mutual-aid), and socially experimental dinners. In 2020, Joshua graduated from the Interdisciplinary Arts program at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Currently, he's loosely based in Amsterdam.

While in residence at Moinhos do Dão, Joshua has continued his research within themes of regenerative culture, nature connection, and social design. He's been exploring questions including:

Which nature-based practices strengthen a palpable, personal relationship with non-human beings?
What's a regenerative lifestyle, why's it important, and how can I live one?
How can I access and trust animate intelligence (i.e. non-rational) and foster an integrated intelligence to guide my actions?

Joshua's website: https://joshuaglass.net

Joshua Glass artist in residence September 2021

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Freya van Dien

The work of Joshua Glass elaborates on the intersection of performance art + social experimentation + nature connection. He designs his offerings to be embodied so we can practice:

exchanging with non-humans
reviewing the boundaries of self and other
coexisting in community

Recently, Joshua has produced participatory performances, community-building events, artistic installations, workshops, and a non-profit organization called The Treehouse Maastricht.The Treehouse was co-founded in 2018 in the Netherlands as a public coffeehouse for developing emotional integrity and silliness in the context of deep community. With The Treehouse, Joshua researched and implemented dynamic governance, microsolidarity (mutual-aid), and socially experimental dinners.In 2020, Joshua graduated from the Interdisciplinary Arts program at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Currently, he's loosely based in Amsterdam.While in residence at Moinhos do Dão, Joshua will continue his research within themes of regenerative culture, nature connection, and social design. He'll explore questions including:

Which nature-based practices strengthen a palpable, personal relationship with non-human beings?
Why are humans blamed for destroying planet earth?
What's a regenerative lifestyle, why's it important, and how can I live one?
How can I access and trust animate intelligence (i.e. non-rational) and foster an integrated intelligence to guide my actions?
How can principles of nature and permaculture nurture a win-win relationship between human and non-human beings?

Joshua's website: https://joshuaglass.net

Lisa’s story – Micro Reserve

Posted on March 14, 2021 by Freya van Dien

As part of my studies “International Forest Ecosystem Management” I spent three months at the Moinhos do Dão, focusing on the forest restoration work in the Micro Reserve.

Its been a great learning experience to spend that much time on this hill. Getting to know the soil, the plants, the heat and drought in summer, as well as the heavy rains and frosty nights in autumn. And with all these impressions, trying to envision a transformation into a more resilient and diverse ecosystem. Trying to find the role that we as humans can play in supporting the change. It’s been a gift to hear about the experiences that Freya and Steven made in the last years, to learn about their methods and to evolve new ones together. There is lots of space for new ideas and suggestions!

After many hours of pullerbearing, bramble-removing, mulching, seeding and planting, it’s amazing to see how the land has changed. From a non-accessible hill that is covered with tall broom to a rocky landscape with little paths that I love to walk on. Amazed by all the life that is found under that layer of broom: Saplings and larger trees of endemic oak species, strawberry trees, pines, hawthorns, an olive tree, native blooming shrubs and wild roses. Seeing these plants is what kept me going during the work. What gave me patience to dig up one bramble after the other, and perseverance in fighting with broom in the heat. Sometimes it felt quite destructive to pull out so many plants by their root, burning them, basically clear-cutting an area. To see these trees and saplings that are there already, and that now have light and space to grow tall, to spread their own seeds and to eventually form a self-regulated forest ecosystem that provides habitat for many more species. Seeing how easily broom and brambles catch and spread fire made it more understandable why we burn some of the woody material.

I loved to walk through the surrounding forests, collecting acorns and little trees to transplant them. It feels good to give something back to the soil, to plant something into each hole that we create.

A beautiful experience was to spend a full moon night on the hill together with Mary Ellen and Rory. To wake up on that hill and spend a day there without doing anything but observing and enjoying what is there and what has changed the last weeks. Realizing again the beauty of this place and dreaming of the forest that might establish here in future.

I hope there will be many more people to come and learn from and with this beautiful hill!